411 Box Office Report: Black Panther Ranks #1 For Fourth Week

Marvel’s latest blockbuster ranked atop the box office once again, as Black Panther logged a fourth straight week at #1. The MCU film brought in $41.1 million for the three-day frame, off a mere 38% from the previous week. That makes the film the first since Star Wars: The Force Awakens in late 2015/early 2016 to top the box office for four weekends in a row.

At this point, Black Panther is up to $562 million domestically and $1.078 billion, and is outpacing The Avengers domestically by just under $50 million at this point. Avengers had a stronger slate of competition in the next few weeks, which suggests that Panther has a good shot at keeping this pace at the least. That would put it at in the $670 million range, which would be good enough for the #3 all-time domestic grosser. Obviously, the film is a huge hit on its $200 million budget.

Disney also had the #2 spot at the box office, as A Wrinkle in Time tallied up a $33.3 million domestic start. That is on the slightly low end of where analysts predicted for the fantasy-adventure film. Adapted from Madeline L’Engle’s famous novel, the film made a heavy play for the family crowd and they showed up — although not perhaps to the level that Disney hoped. The studio put a lot of promotion into this film and leaned heavily on the star-studded cast, which was heavily cited as a reason for going to see the film.

The strong support for the stars and Disney’s marketing efforts, however, were countered by the mild response to the film from critics. Live-action family films are more susceptible to review scores, and Wrinkle’s 43% on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t setting the world on fire. The book, while influential, is also not something that kids are reading a lot of in this age and that may have muted the turnout somewhat. The movie was liked but not loved by filmgoers, with a B CinemaScore that will neither help nor hurt its box office potential too much.

At this point, Wrinkle in Time will be reliant on the staggered spring break vacation periods of the next few weeks to hope for good holds. Only one family film is releasing in that time, namely Sherlock Gnomes, though that could take some wind out of this film’s sails. Overseas the film did okay with $6.3 million in just six markets. Domestically it looks likely to approach $115 million domestically which means it will need more overseas grosses to make back its $100 million production budget.

Horror came in at #3 with the opening weekend of Strangers: Prey at Night. The sequel to the 2008 sleeper hit tallied a $10.5 million start which is at the upper end of expectations. The home invasion film is in decent shape to start off with, in part because horror is not less susceptible to review scores influencing profits than family films. That’s a good thing, as the film came up Rotten at 38%. More concerning is the C CinemaScore, which isn’t great even for the horror genre.

To be fair, Aviron was taking a chance here by trying out a sequel to a film ten years old. And they’ve hedged their bets, with a budget of just $5 million and a lighter marketing campaign. It’s still not at the level of a potential hit like its predecessor; The Strangers started off with almost exactly double the opening weekend ($21 million). If it follows the same trend, Prey at Night looks to end its run at around $25 million domestically. Foreign grosses will make the difference on this film, which should get close to breakeven if not make a little profit.

Jennifer Lawrence’s Red Sparrow was off 52% in its second weekend to $8.2 million for a #4 ranking. That’s not the hold that Fox was hoping for, but it’s not the worst news ever either. The spy thriller now sits at $31.1 million domestically and $63 million worldwide, performing mediocrely on both fronts. It looks like it should make it to around $45 million in the US, and will hope that its foreign numbers pick up a bit so it can hit breakeven on its $69 million budget plus marketing.

Game Night held on pretty well in its third weekend, down just 24% to $7.9 million. The R-rated ensemble comedy now stands at $45 million domestically and $69.7 million worldwide which are both solid numbers. It should finish out at around $60 million domestically and will be a decent success on a $37 million budget.

Meanwhile, Bruce Willis’ team-up with Elio Roth fell short of hopes as Death Wish pulled down $13 million. Predictions for the film had it in the same range as Red Sparrow, so this marks the latest underperformer for Roth after The Green Inferno brought in just $3.5 million back in September of 2015. Death Wish was always expected to do much better business than Roth’s usual fare, being a remake of a cult classic and holding a bigger star in Willis. Audiences weren’t biting for this reboot though, especially with marketing that tried to portray the movie as a quippier take on the Charles Bronson franchise.

Peter Rabbit didn’t feel much of A Wrinkle in Time’s bite and slipped only 32% to $6.8 million in its fifth weekend. The live-action/animated hybrid comedy now has $93.5 million domestically and $119.7 million worldwide. It looks likely to finish off at around $110 million domestically and will make money for Sony on a $50 million budget.

Eli Roth’s Death Wish took a bit of a dive from its already lackluster start with a $6.6 million second weekend. That’s a drop of 49%. The action-thriller is now sitting at $23.9 million domestically and will need to push itself (and cash in overseas) to make a profit on a $30 million budget. As it stands, $35 million should be its end point.

Entertainment Studios’ disaster action flick Hurricane Heist was muted in its opening weekend, rustling up just $3.2 million. That’s not a goot start for Entertainment and ranks as its lowest opening for a wide release yet after Hostiles ($10.1 million) and 46 Meters Down ($11.2 million). The film isn’t going to get much above $8 million to $10 million and will lose money on its $35 million budget, especially when you consider its dull B- CinemaScore and 33% RT rating.

Alex Garland’s Annihilation continued to fade away, down 44% to $3.2 million in its third weekend. The sci-fi film not stands at $26.1 million domestically and should close off at abour $35 million. It needs strong results when it opens overseas to avoid a loss on its $40 million budget.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle held on for one more weekend in the top ten, off 38% to $2.8 million. The film is now sitting at $397.3 million and will close the $400 million mark soon enough. Worldwide, it’s at $934.1 million worldwide. It’s a huge hit on a $90 million budget.

If Black Panther can rule again next weekend, it will be the first film since Avatar to hold for five straight weekends. That will be quite the trick though, as it faces off with Tomb Raider which is aiming for a $25 million to $30 million opening. Also opening is gay teen romance film Love, Simon which has a bit of a young adult novel fanbase. It should make it to 10 million to $12 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Black Panther – $41.1 million ($562 million total)
2. A Wrinkle in Time – $33.3 million ($33.3 million total)
3. Strangers: Prey at Night – $10.5 million ($10.5 million total)
4. Red Sparrow – $8.2 million ($31.1 million total)
5. Game Night – $7.9 million ($45 million total)
6. Peter Rabbit – $6.8 million ($93.5 million total)
7. Death Wish – $6.6 million ($23.9illion total)
8. Hurricane Heist – $3.2 million ($3.2 million total)
9. Annihilation – $3.2 million ($26.1.6 million total)
10. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – $2.8 million ($397.3 million total)